Your primary care doctor (also known as a "primary care physician" or "PCP") is a critical member of your health care team -- no matter how many other doctors you see.

A primary care doctor is too important to your health and overall well being to take the quick and easy approach and choosing one just because a family member or friend likes him or her, or who has an office close to your work, or by looking in the yellow pages.

Think about the time you spend picking out a car: the research you do, the people you talk to, and the thought you give it. Isn't your health more important? Your life?

An educated consumer takes the following steps to choose a primary care doctor:

Step 1. Decide what kind of doctor you need.
Step 2. Decide what to look for in a doctor.
Step 3. Locate a doctor who fits your criteria, including insurance and/or financial criteria.
Step 4. Check the doctor's quality.
Step 5. Interview the staff.
Step 6. Interview the doctor.
Step 7. Review all you've learned and make a decision.

Don't expect to have a full blown relationship with a doctor after one visit. It will take more than one visit for you and your doctor to really get to know each other and begin to develop a working relationship.

If you have a spouse or significant other, consider both of you seeing the same doctor, or at least doctors in the same group of doctors. It can help the doctor get to know you better.

Whoever your doctor is, the more you participate in your health care, the better the outcome is likely to be. Indeed, a partnership with your physician provides the best  long term results.

Learn how to maximize your time with your doctor, when and how to ask for second opinions, when to end the relationship if necessary, and how to do it. (See "To Learn More.")

If you cannot locate or afford a primary care doctor, consider using a nurse practitioner, or, if you can find one, the new category of nurses known as "Doctor of Nursing Practice."

• A Nurse Practitioner genearlly has an MS degree, a Registered Nurse license and a Nurse Practitioner license. He or she has authority to write prescriptions, and to receive Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement.
• A Doctor of Nursing Practice is a new category of nurses. A DNP has a doctoral degree. DNPs have authority to write prescrptions and to obtain reimbursement from Medicare/Medicaid. There is a growing recognition for payment by commercial health insurers. Hospital medical boards are granting admitting privileges.

Please share how this information is useful to you. 0 Comments